The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-06-17
a SHOE olRLs hoIEL

A SHOP GIRLS HOTEL.
asv Three Pi.ehy werkins-Wsoea -
tablishsA . Crsa1eaAss EatseyFisA
Notwithstanding the failure Of
Stewards hotel for working women. it
appears that there II now in sue.
cessful operation in New York City an
Institution OF that kid which might
we'll be copied in other cities 1t Was
started and is now carried on by three
shop girls, whose father died leaving
them $500 each. They went to the city
and into . store where their wages
were not sufficient to feed and clothe
them without encrOaching on their
capital. Finally, the idea occurred to
one Of them that they might benefit
themselves and other girls in like posi-
tions by starting hotel especially for
them. We quote from the story as told
by the most active of the energetic
tEio.
There were seven hundred women
about the establishment where 1
worked. and we talked the matter up
mornings and nights with every one
that we knew. There were plenty of
girls who lived at home with their pa
rents, but we found fifty or more who
jumped at the chance we offered them
and were continually urging us to go
ahead with the scheme. Finally we
began house-hunting. We were stag
gered by the city rents, rs matter Of
course. and more than once gave up
the whole plan in despair. We had
staked our all on a desperate chance.
and the longer We looked at it the
more certain appeared the prospect of
our loss. 1t was woman of whom we
hired the place. and she put the fig
ures as low as she could afford. and
promised US consideration i'm any diff
Guilty. so long As there seemed a
chance of our final success. There
wasn't money enough left to fur
nish very extensively. but we got to-
gether the needfuls for the kitchen and
the dining-room and put up as many
beds as our last lingering dollars would
buy. The girls who had promised to
board with us were eager to come. and
most of them had women's knick-
knacks of one sort or anOther-tables
or chairs or pictures or bits Of fancy
frightened up the bare
place wonderfully and made it look
from the first week almost like a home.
1t was because it felt like home that
we did not fail. There were fifty of us
the day the house opened. and the din
ing-room and the big sitting-room and
the hallway opened running over with
a flock of delighted children. To have
a house to themselves where they could
do as they pleased was > luxury
that went to their heads. They ran
upstairs and downstairs, and the
hOmelier a nook or corner was
the better they liked it. 1t was
a camping-out frolic. and picnics were
rare enough with them all They
laughed because I forgot towels in or.
dering the linen. and they laughed
when the milkman went by without
leaving the milk. They sat up till past
midnight sewing the long seams of the
sheets. They unpacked their trunks
and settler the furniture and hustled
about in that first week Of confusion.
in the firm conviction that the whole
was the most delightful Of
jokes that had ever exploded in their
prosaic lives Nothing discouraged
and nothing daunted them. No master
what went wrong. they we're determin-
ed to be pleased. and to find in every
mishsp only the material for jest. I
put the board rs low as l dared. after I
had calculated the rent and the coal.
the gas and the table bills. left the
store. Of course. and my sister did
The same. The three of US undertook to
manage the house. and once things got
INTO running order We found no great
with the scheme. I inter.
Tiewed the grocer and the butcher and
he fish dealer. and have been experi-
from the start with simple
meals Of wholesome variety and ma
erial. Seventy boar1ers was the ut.
most number we had room to accom-.
nodate. and seventy bOarders were on
he list before the first three weeks had
zone by. When the first month of our |
experiment. was over we had money In |
hand for second months rent. and
more in our pockets than II we had
'tayed in the store. After looking at
hat four weeks balance sheet put |
lside the last thought Of disaster to my |
,lan. 1t would work; it was working.
md patience and good health could not
lelp carrying it forward without fail"
The building in which this cheerful
of the city's history ia being |
written is q double brick-house,
in multiplicity Of small
ooms, in a quiet by-strest 1t is not
but it never groans ut
sewing-machine. nor frOwns on ca
lary-bird, nor tangles a woman in
ules and regulations till she struggles
or fresh air. 1t has . reading-room
nd a germ Of library, and it supplies
ome comforts and home rest at .
barge not exceeding from $ to $3.50
'er week. The latest project now I'M.
er discussion is to put this working
iris enterprise on \ more permanent
nd substantial basis by making the
Thole institution cooperative
cheme. Low-priced shares Of q few
Ollars each. will be bought by the
romen out Of their savings. and If it